Trucks and vehicles with rear cargo areas (such as, for example, hatchbacks, SUVs, etc.) may sometimes be configured with sensors that determine and/or output a signal indicative of whether a tailgate (e.g., in the case of a pick-up truck) or a cargo door (e.g., in the case of another type of vehicle) is ajar/open. By way of example, vehicles of such a configuration may have an indicator to indicate to the driver that the cargo door/tailgate is ajar. Such an indicator may be, for example, a light on the dashboard of the vehicle or an auditory alarm to indicate that the cargo door/tailgate is ajar.
The present inventor has determined that there are instances when a driver of such a vehicle may not want to receive sensory input from the indicator indicating that the cargo door/tailgate is ajar because the driver intentionally has the cargo door/tailgate ajar/open.
Security systems may be utilized on vehicles that have devices that determine whether or not a cabin door and/or a cargo door/tailgate is ajar, and, depending on whether the security system is activated, may output or otherwise initiate an alarm if the system determines that the cabin door and/or tailgate/cargo door is ajar when activated. The present inventors have determined that there are some instances when a driver of the vehicle may seek to secure a cabin of the vehicle against theft, but may not want to secure a cargo area of a vehicle with a security system. By way of example, an owner of a pick-up truck may have the tailgate down because he or she is transporting long pieces of lumber in the truck that extend past the interior dimensions of the truck, (but properly attached to the truck bed) and, thus the tailgate is open, and thus ajar. (Some pick-ups have hard or soft caps covering the cargo area of the pick-up, such as cap 1000 shown in FIG. 3. Thus, the cargo area may be secured by the closing of the tailgate. The invention described below will work with vehicles with a hard cap, a soft cap, or with no cap.) However, the driver may still want to secure the cabin from theft. In security devices that monitor the status of the cabin doors and the cargo door/tailgate, activation of the security system would result in an alarm being initiated because the tailgate of the pick-up truck was ajar.
In view of the above, the present inventor has invented novel and useful devices to provide an owner/driver of a vehicle with the option to configure a cargo door/tailgate position indication system and/or a security system in a manner that meets the desires/needs of the user/driver.